Macron - not the only young achiever
- Published
He's young and he looks it. And at 39, Emmanuel Macron has won the final round of the French presidential election to become the country's youngest president - ever.
But he's not the youngest young achiever, by a long way. From ancient warriors to high-tech wizards, here's a random selection to rival Mr Macron.
Pitt the Younger
The clue's in the name. At just 24, William Pitt the Younger became British prime minister in 1783. He stayed in the post almost continuously until his death in 1806.
Key events during his premiership: defeating the French at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805; the introduction of income tax; the Act of Union with Ireland.
William Pitt the Younger
Coming back to the present day, Mr Macron will not be the only world leader under 40. This group includes Macedonian Prime Minister Emil Dimitriev, 38, and the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, 36. Not forgetting the ever prominent Kim Jong-un, 33, leader of North Korea. The last two have, of course, inherited the role.
Vanessa d'Ambrosio
And if you happen to be strolling through the European microstate of San Marino, external - location, north-eastern Italy - you might come across 28-year-old Vanessa d'Ambrosio, one its two leaders, or captains regent.
Vanessa d'Ambrosio, 28, is captain regent of San Marino
Mark Zuckerberg
The US tech entrepreneur was 19 when he launched Facebook with four other Harvard students in 2004. With more than 1.8 billion users and market capitalisation of around $400bn (£312bn), it is widely seen as the world's most successful social networking site.
Mark Zuckerberg is now 32
Alexander the Great
One of the greatest military commanders of all time, Alexander the Great inherited the Macedonian throne in 336 BC aged 20. After conquering the huge Persian empire, still in his 20s, he went on to rule over an empire spanning three continents. Biggest single victory: the Battle of Gaugamela, in present-day Iraq.
Sean Connery played Alexander in a BBC adaptation of Terence Rattigan's play, Adventure Story, in 1961
Nadia Comaneci
In sport there are many firsts and youngests, but Romanian Nadia Comaneci caught the imagination more than most at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. Aged just 14, she was the first gymnast in Olympic history to score a perfect 10.0 - on the uneven bars.
The gold medallist, who began in the discipline at the age of six, went on to score six more 10.0s.
Comaneci retired in 1981, later defecting to the United States from then Communist Romania. In 1997, gymnastics' world governing body raised the minimum age for senior competition to 16.
Here's Comaneci again, four decades later at a Golden Globes after-party in California in January:
Feeling inadequate? Here's some late bloomers!
For those of us who have failed to reach pinnacles of achievement at an early age, there is hope however.
Here are a couple of late bloomers, who took time to reach their full potential.
Colonel Sanders
The founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken opened his first franchise in Utah in 1952. Harland Sanders was 62. His early career included tyre salesman, motel manager and ferry operator. KFC now has outlets in more than 100 countries.
A statue of Harland Sanders, on the left, and business partner Pete Harman was erected in 2004 at the site in Salt Lake City of the first KFC outlet.
Kenneth Grahame
The Edinburgh-born author of The Wind in the Willows worked for the Bank of England from the age of 20 but was already known in literary circles and went on to publish essays and stories about children.
The Wind in the Willows, a mystical adventure starring animals Mole, Ratty, Badger and Toad, was not published until 1908 when Grahame was 49.
Grahame's work became a global best-seller.
